Top Searches:

BDA eyes beggars' colony for convention centre

Bangalore: The Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) seems to be determined to replace rice and ganji (gruel) with pizza and burger, and the losers are inmates of the Beggars' Rehabilitation Centre in Kamakshipalya.

| TNN | Updated: Nov 24, 2011, 03:14 IST

BANGALORE: The Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) seems to be determined to replace rice and ganji (gruel) with pizza and burger, and the losers are inmates of the Beggars' Rehabilitation Centre in Kamakshipalya.

There's no place for remorse in the BDA's scheme of things to replace the beggars' colony with an international convention centre, swanky hotel, commercial complex and leisure and entertainment facilities. Though BDA officially maintains the project is on hold following a Public Interest Litigation in the Karnataka High Court, TOI has learnt the agency is doing everything to ensure the Rs 425-crore project is executed.

On Wednesday, a board sprang up on the beggars' colony land announcing it was a BDA property.

After inviting expression of interest from parties for the project, the BDA appointed a Mumbai-based urban infrastructure and management consultancy Tandon Urban Solutions Private Limited (TUSPL) as consultant. Contrary to BDA's claims, a TUSPL spokesperson confirmed that project planning is under way.

BDA does not have its own architect and thus we are its project consultants. We have given several alternatives on how the project should be taken up. The hotel could be a three-star or two-star hotel," he said.

Though the EoI was invited only on May 31, 2011, the spokesperson claimed they've been working on the project since January 2011. He also claimed TUSPL had been operating out of the BDA head office and would charge a success fee, a euphemism for consultancy fee, of 5% of project cost. A high-profile national politician allegedly has stakes in the project.

The PIL is slated to come up for hearing in the high court on December 7.

Yes, the project has been given to TUSPL, but only to come up with the building plan. The project has been on temporarily put on hold. Once the PIL is cleared, the project will gain momentum. As per the government order, 10 acres should have been used for a superspecialty hospital, said a BDA official.

Troubled land

Last year, 106 inmates of the Beggars' Rehabilitation Centre died after a wave of epidemics swept through the campus off Magadi Road. The colony was granted about 308 acres and 3 guntas of land by the Maharaja of Mysore in 1944. Some parts were given away to various agencies like a leprosy centre, BWSSB and National Institute of Unani Medicine. About 164.33 acres remained with the beggars' colony.

In June 2010, the government allotted 123.3 acres to BDA. Though the government said that 10 acres would be earmarked for a 800-bed superspecialty hospital on public private partnership model, the BDA's EoI notification is silent on it.

Activists say BDA not transparent

The state government's project has run into stiff resistance. Santhosh P Nargund of Rashtrottan Sankalp, which filed a PIL, said it is reprehensible that a hotel is coming up on land meant for beggars. "On any given day, there are not less than 20,000 beggars in the city and the beggars' rehabilitation centre houses only 500 inmates," he said.

The activists are also upset that the BDA is not transparent on the issue. An RTI application filed by B V Gurutej, also of Rashtrottan Sankalp, seeking whether approval had been obtained for land use change, has received a vague reply.

"The BDA dodged the question saying the government has given permission to take up development activities in the area," Nargund said. The BDA has not furnished official records on change of land usage and government approval.

Hotel for delegates

Why is the BDA interested in building a hotel in the beggars' colony? To accommodate foreign delegates who come to seminars at the international convention centre being built by BDA on the same land.

"While discussing the construction of a convention centre, the question of where to accommodate foreign delegates was discussed. The easy solution was to construct a hotel next to the convention centre,"said a senior BDA engineer involved in selection of the consultancy.

All Comments ()+^ Back to Top

Characters Remaining: 3000

Continue without login

or

Login from existing account

FacebookGoogleEmail

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Refrain from posting comments that are obscene, defamatory or inflammatory, and do not indulge in personal attacks, name calling or inciting hatred against any community. Help us delete comments that do not follow these guidelines by marking them offensive. Let's work together to keep the conversation civil.